BBC Investigation: Finding Ads Against Google's Policies

Forum Moderators: goodroi

Message Too Old, No Replies

BBC Investigation: Finding Ads Against Google's Policies

engine

2:05 pm on May 3, 2021 (gmt 0)

A BBC investigation has found many adverts from sellers in breach of Google's ad policies.

Adverts for unofficial services selling government documents such as travel permits and driving licences are against Google's own rules.

But the BBC found adverts for expensive third-party sellers every time it searched during a 12-month period.

[bbc.co.uk...]

Clearly, it's struggling with the volumes of spam in the SERPs as well as problematic in ads.
[webmasterworld.com...]

iamlost

2:34 pm on May 3, 2021 (gmt 0)

Google has always ‘allowed’ ads that were against it’s TOS, even against various jurisdiction’s (including US) law/regulation. So long as they believe the profit risk outweighs the fine risk; eg they did it with pharmaceuticals and gaming.

Automation is a handy excuse when asked why ‘obvious’ infringement passes unopposed so frequently. Eventually some jurisdiction lowers the boom on some specific ad vertical/behaviour, the lawyers keep the ads in play for months/years, and then suddenly ‘all cleaned up’. It’s a miracle, I tell you.

superclown2

7:35 am on May 5, 2021 (gmt 0)

Those ads seem to have vanished from the SERPs here in the UK. Strange that they can remove them now but they couldn't before the news broke.

The term 'Google ethics' is an oxymoron.